The subject matter herein relates generally to an electrical connector having a plurality of differential pairs of signal conductors for transmitting data signals.
Electrical connector systems, such as those used in networking and telecommunication systems, utilize receptacle and header connectors to interconnect components of the system, such as a motherboard and daughtercard. However, as speed and performance demands increase, known electrical connectors are proving to be insufficient. For example, signal loss and/or signal degradation is a problem in known electrical systems. There is also a desire to increase the density of signal conductors to increase throughput of the electrical system, without an appreciable increase in size of the electrical connectors. In fact, a decrease in the sizes of the electrical connectors is desired. However, increasing the density of signal conductors and/or reducing the size of the electrical connectors can cause further strains on performance. In addition to the above challenges, certain types of connector configurations, such as right-angle configurations, may also cause problems with the performance and implementation of electrical connectors.
In order to address the above challenges, connector systems have been proposed that are configured to shield differential pairs of signal conductors from each other to reduce interference between the differential pairs. For example, in some connector systems, the electrical connector(s) have plastic housings that are metalized (e.g., copper-plated plastic housing). A metalized plastic housing may include metal fibers or other conductive particles within the plastic material of the housing. However, metalized housings can be costly to manufacture.
A need remains for an electrical connector having improved shielding that meets particular performance demands and that is also manufacturable in a cost effective and reliable manner.